Sara
by SookMonster
Summary: When Joel and Ellie stumble upon a Sarah look-alike, will things be the same? Serious Joel trama, but fluffy Ellie. This takes place after Salt Lake City, but before they get to Tommy's. Spoilers ! Anyways enjoy! (Btw don't judge, first story T T)
1. Bright Walls (prologue)

Walking through a large dull building, it seemed to not want to give in to world around it. She was okay with that. The bright walls and light somewhat comforted her. It made her mind wander from the decaying world around her.

She imagined people with lit up faces dancing around in expensive clothes. A beautiful song playing as they moved in swift graceful motions with loved ones to catch them. That was nothing like the plant ridden room she saw before her. So she didn't focus on the plants or the broken tables and chairs. Just the walls.

A voice snapped her back to reality. "Ellie?" A rough voice called from another room.

"Joel, what is this?" Ellie's curiosity peaked her. A man came walking into her room with a half worried half fatigued look in his face. When he saw her the worry drained and left fatigue. He followed her gaze at the room before them.

"A ballroom." Joel said noticing the marble floors and the brightly colored walls. Ellie looked unsatisfied.

"What's that?" She asked.

Joel sighed staring at the scenery remembering bright chandeliers and happy faces. "Its a place where people would go to have party's or 'balls' as you might say. The big marble floor," he gestured to the beautiful designs on the ground "is where people would dance and party."

"Oh." Ellie said staring wondrously at the floor, this time.

"Yep," Joel exclaimed making Ellie jump out of her thoughts "we better get moving." And Joel walked off. Ellie on the other hand hesitated before walking after him.

Ellie half knew what the room was before she asked, the reason she already knew that people enjoyed themselves here. But she liked learning new things, especially with Joel. It seemed to take him back to happier times, and she didn't want neither him or her to stay stuck in this rotting reality. So she would ask about those times. But when she went too deep into the past Joel would have a dark look on his face and she would stop.

It had been a while after she somewhat bonded with Joel. Ellie was still uneasy after Salt Lake City. Something inside her told her that Joel was lying, and it hurt her to think so.

So she didn't think of it, she just thought of people dancing and bright walls.


	2. S-A-R-A

Ellie walked along the side of the building looking down at the cracked road with rusted cars. A silence set over the old depressed landscape, it was almost peaceful. Almost. It told them. That they were alone, nothing to kill them. But that was the bad part, no one to help them, no one to tell them it would be alright, because is wasn't alright, and they both knew it.

Wanting to break the silent tension Ellie opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by a shout followed by multiple gunshots. Joel dragged Ellie into a crouching position behind a wall in the broken building, But something confused Ellie.

"Are they shooting at us?" She asked hearing all the gunshots far below her.

"No." Joel said firmly, grateful that they weren't. Ellie slightly peeked her head out from where they were crouched and saw a little girl shooting at the hunters who were shooting back. Joel quickly pulled her out of view before she could see anything else. "No!" He commanded, "Do you want them shooting at us?" He hissed.

"There's a little girl down there!" Ellie shot back at him. Joel looked hurt for a moment before having to tug her back into cover by her dull backpack.

"There's a little girl right here too!" Ellie glared at him. His gaze softened when she did so. "Look, we can't just save every damsel in distress we come across." Though his face was relaxed he still had a firmness in his voice.

"Just look!" Ellie half shouted at him and shuffled over to his other side so we was able to look out. But he did he didn't see a girl, he saw a man. When he went back undercover, he was extremely annoyed.

"Ellie, there ain't no girl here!" He spat.

"What? You didn't see her?" Ellie looked at Joel like he was an idiot. When Joel just stared at her she went on. "Blonde hair, blue shirt, you know the one shooting people?!" Joel narrowed his eyes at her dangerously.

"If you think this is some kind of-" but he was cut off my Ellie shouting.

"It's not!" And she pushed him out before he could say anything else. Joel still didn't see the girl, in fact, he didn't see anyone. He must not have heard the gunshots die down when he and Ellie were arguing. Ellie must have noticed it too because she was peeking out from her cover.

Ellie looked over the landscape scanning to see if there was even a hunter. But there was no one, it was silent, again. Was she going crazy? She swore she saw that young girl. A wail jumped her out of her thoughts.

When the wail sounded Joel seemed alarmed, more alarmed than usual. Ellie looked over at him and nudged him. "C'mon, we should see what happened..." She was giving him a strange look and he hesitated a moment before following Ellie out, soon leading the way.

When the two made it down Joel seemed to have recovered whatever had happened to him. It scared Ellie for a second, he looked terrified and angry. Ellie kept a short distance from him for now. But what they discovered made Joel go pale.

In the liter of rusted cars and miscellaneous debris a little weeping girl knelt over a mans body. The man was bleeding and the heartbroken girl was holding his hand, he was obviously shot by hunters. Ellie didn't know why Joel was so taken aback at this scene. She was sure he and her had suffered the death of someone close far too many times.

The girl then whipped her head around her eyes pale blue eyes red and puffy. She had tears silently falling down her face and looked scared and sad. Ellie felt a wave of pity come over her, this girl was too young for this, well, wasn't everyone?

Ellie looked up at a stiffened Joel. What was wrong with him? He wasn't moving. The girl turned back around when Joel or Ellie did nothing. Ellie took a step forward to look at Joel's face. It was filled with pain, anger, and fear all at once. It confused and scared Ellie. So she spoke up.

"Joel?" She mumbled quieter than she wanted to. "Joel." She said firmer. He didn't move, but the girl did.

"Where you two here the whole time?" She stuttered over tears. She looked somewhat angry. Ellie couldn't find words.

"We'll, we- um..." She trailed off. Ellie suddenly hated herself, she could have stopped this. This was obviously shown in the younger girls expression. But she didn't say anything, she just turned and faced the dying man.

"Oh Daddy, don't leave me like this..." Ellie heard her whisper to the man, who she assumed was her father, under her. Ellie looked back at Joel. He seemed so distant, and he was staring at this poor girl. No, not this girl, Another girl, far away from here.

Just then something snapped. Short blonde hair, pale blue eyes, this was a living Sarah. She remembered the photo Maria showed her. Ellie then looked over at Joel who was obviously in denial. She then felt a bigger was of pity wash over her, her legs felt weak. Ellie knew she couldn't help Joel, he was somewhere else now, so she took a step forward.

"I'm so sorry..." She knelt next to the girl looking at her rocking figure. Ellie could hear her shaky breath and remembered another girl, a special dark skinned figure with a cocky smile. Ellie shook her head to wipe away painful memories. She was a bit surprised to find that the girl was looking at her.

"Are you okay?" Though this Sarah clone had deep sadness in her eyes, she was concerned for Ellie. Ellie was surprised.

"Am I okay? Yeah, but are you okay?" Ellie looked at her reflecting the sadness in her eyes. But the girl didn't answer. It was silent for a while until this girl took some last sniffs and took an attempt at stopping crying.

"My name Is Sara." She said weakly staring at the wound on her fathers body, her hand in his. Her hand was getting bloody in his, but she didn't seem to care. There was a choking sound behind them and they both turned around to see Joel. He was no longer paralyzed, In fact he started walking towards the two and slowly and shakily sat down beside them, not saying anything more, just staring.

Ellie tried to ignore this, and the strange look Sara was giving Joel. "Your name is Sarah?" She said disbelievingly.

"Yes..." She started to look at Ellie strangely as well.

"Like Sarah, Sarah? S-A-R-A-H?" Ellie didn't believe what she was hearing.

"Oh, no. Sara, S-A-R-A. No H, people get that wrong an awful lot." Sara's face seemed lighter, now that she wasn't looking at the corpse before her. "Why, is something wrong?" She looked at Ellie with a concerned look in her eyes.

"What? Oh, no." Ellie looked for words but found none. Sara shifted uncomfortably, she must have been with both Joel and Ellie gawking at her. It was a while before someone said anything.

"Well, I guess I'd better get going... Um, bye?" Sara seemed sad and uncomfortable as she stood up. A voice called out but Ellie was surprised to see it wasn't hers.

"Do you want to stay with us?" A deep voice blurted out. Ellie turned to see Joel looked alarmed and somewhat weak. Ellie thought for a second that was a bad idea...

"Uh, I don't know." Sara looked around for an escape, obviously not wanting to hurt either of their feelings. Her eyes then landed at her slowly decaying father and they darkened with sadness. "I have a lot on my plate, I guess." She muttered.

When Joel looked hurt Ellie spoke for him. "We could help you?" She offered. Sara at first looked as if that was not what she had in mind, but then looked grateful.

"That... Would be nice, thanks." She looked over at Joel and Ellie and gave a weak smile.


	3. Low Battery

After they had taken Sara's father to an acceptable place, they began to walk. Where to, Ellie didn't know. Tommy's, she guessed.

It was very silent, it made everything slightly awkward. What was more awkward was Joel occasionally glancing at Sara as if to check if she was still here, in reality. Ellie was just looking at the scenery, nothing had crossed their path for a while.

"So... Where are we headed?" It was Sara who spoke first, and for the first time she looked at Joel. Joel slightly flinched when she did so.

"Hopefully Jackson." Joel murmured, looking away from Sara.

"What's in Jackson?" Sara asked to no one in particular, now that Joel wasn't acknowledging her anymore.

"Tommy's," Ellie said, looking over at Sara. Sara looked clueless, and when she sId nothing Ellie continued, "Joel's brother, he has a small settlement there.". Sara made an 'oh' face and stared ahead, leaving silence to envelop the group once more. But Ellie was curios. "So was that your father?" She asked. Sara's face fell.

"Yes, it was." Sara looked over at Ellie, "is he...?" She said tilting her head towards Joel. But before Ellie could speak-

"No." Joel sounded annoyed, Sara looked as if she pushed a self destruct button. She mouthed 'sorry' at Ellie. Ellie gave a quiet laugh and saw Joel glance behind him.

"So, where you from?" Ellie asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Texas? Well, at least what's rest of the Texas QZ." Sara said and Ellie swore she saw Joel cringe.

"Oh, I'm from the Boston QZ." Ellie said somewhat crestfallen, painful memories flashing by.

"Why'd you leave?" Sara asked, but after a pained expression she dismissed it with a short "Never mind." But continued on "I left Texas because I wanted to see the world, I liked exploring with my father." She said her eyes brightening, and added excitedly " sometimes when it was dark and no one was around, I would go out and find cool things, like this one time I found a skateboard!" Sara beamed. Ellie smiled back.

Something about Sara, Ellie liked. Maybe it was the way she talked about the interesting things she found, or maybe it was when she smiled, and the warmth that seemed to radiate off of it. She would be her friend.

Her thoughts were interrupted by small clicks, too close for comfort. Soon the group was crouched down behind a rusted car. Ellie could see Joel do his usual 'stay here' gesture, to the two girls. After a few gunshots it was silent, no clickers to be seen.

"Okay, you can come out now." Ellie heard Joel's soft call. Both Ellie and Sara slowly creeped out from behind the car, but Sara dashed off somewhere.

"Wait!" Ellie hissed, and chased after her. When they stopped Ellie saw Sara holding up something that glimmered. "What's that?" Sara turned to face her holding the object, it was flat with a small imprint.

"I don't know, but it looks pointless" she shrugged it off somewhat annoyed that Sara had randomly ran off. When she saw Sara's disappointed expression she continued. "We can ask Joel, he should know," Ellie offered. Before Sara could say anything she called out "Joel!" Joel jogged over looking somewhat annoyed over his usual exhaustion.

"What?" He asked.

"What's this?" Ellie asked gesturing to the object in Sara's hand. Joel looked somewhat surprised.

"That's an iPod" he said somewhat amazed that it was either still here, or still intact.

"Huh" Sara breathed out and pressed the small indent on the iPod but noting happened. Ellie walked over beside Sara and tried to press it too. Nothing happened.

"Is something supposed to happen?" Ellie asked somewhat disappointed. As Sara was repeatedly bashing the small button Joel walked over and gently took it from her grasp.

"No, here look." Joel pointed to an oval button on the top and pressed it. When nothing happened he pressed it again, but this time he held it down until a screen popped up. It looked like a battery, but it was clear and empty. A small red sliver flashed and the screen went dark once more.

"Does that mean something?" Ellie asked, confused.

"It's got no battery," Joel handed it back to Sara "it needs to be charged."

"What?" Sara stared at him expectantly. Joel's face softened.

"It needs to be hooked up to some small cord and an outlet," Joel explained, then added flatly "which needs power."

There she was learning with Joel again, but something wasn't right. He wasn't talking to her. He was talking to Sara. Ellie didn't like it, she learned with Joel. At least he seemed brighter. Sara made him happy, if Joel was happy Ellie was happy. But Ellie wanted to make him happy, she wished she could.

"Come on, we should find a place to stay for the night." Joel's voice interrupted Ellie of her thoughts. She hadn't even noticed that it was getting dark, nor did she notice Sara messing with the iPod. She, Joel and Sara walked through the saddened city and into the forest.

When they found a small cottage in the middle of the woods it was broken down and plant filled, but it was homely. It was nice, well at least Ellie thought so. It was adorable, and when Ellie saw the look on Sara's face, she guessed that Sara thought so too. Joel didn't, he wasn't staring at the cottage. He was staring at Sara, like he always did, at least when he thought no one saw.

The group walked over and Ellie and Sara walked in while Joel stayed outside, walking around the small house. While Ellie looked around for decent supplies, Sara seemed to look for something else...

"Ugh, nothing." Ellie sighed. She looked over to Sara, she was looking at something. Ellie walked over, she noticed Sara was in a girls' room. She was holding something, it was a necklace. The necklace had beads and a cross on it.

"Look, I think it's a necklace." Sara showed her the small circular leather band.

"You should wear it," Ellie suggested, and she imagined what it would look like on her. Sara hesitated.

"Okay..." She finally spoke. She wrapped the necklace around her neck and snapped it together. It fit somewhat tightly and it looked nice. Sara giggled' and looked up at Ellie sheepishly, "does it look good?"

"Yeah, you should keep it." Ellie said smiling at her. Sara smiled back, Ellie felt warm again. They could hear Joel's footsteps nearing.

"The perimeter's clear, we can stay he-" Joel started, but stopped. He was staring at Sara's new necklace. He didn't look happy. "We'll stay here for the night." His voice hardened, and walked off.

"Sheesh, is he like this all the time?" Sara asked, looking somewhat hurt. She was about to take the necklace off when Ellie's voice made her stop.

"Yeah, most of the time, keep it on. It looks fine." Ellie reassured Sara, and she dropped her hands back to her sides. The rest of the night was full of sad stories and funny ones. Secrets and items were shared between the two girls. Ellie was glad to name Sara her friend.

"Oh my god! I just remembered!" Sara exclaimed, startling Ellie, who was sitting next to her. Sara reached in her backpack.

"Remember what?" Ellie asked, dazed.

"I actually brought my skateboard!" Sara excitedly pulled out a long board with four wheels on it.

"Cool! Can you ride it?" Ellie asked staring at the skateboard, for she had never seen one.

"Of course I can." Sara replied, and set it on the floor.

"No way, how did you have time to learn something like that?" Ellie asked disbelievingly as Sara stepped atop the board.

"Skipped school," Sara shrugged "like all the time." And she pushed off and rolled around the cottage, bumping on cracks in the floors or debris. Ellie laughed and chased after her. Sara then stopped, "I can teach you if you want," she smirked.

"Uh, yes!" Ellie said excitedly. Sara stepped off the board and Ellie stepped on.

"Okay, you just push off the ground with your foot and lean to steer." Sara explained. Ellie did so, but crashed into a wall. Sara laughed, "you need to lean to steer!" She repeated between laughs.

"Quit laughing at me!" Ellie spat, but amusement glinted in her eyes. By the time Ellie had actually started to steer an exhausted and annoyed Joel walked in the room.

"Go to sleep." He growled, "we need to walk in the morning." He glared at the two. Sara and Ellie looked at each other, with equal looks of 'woke the beast' on their faces. When they didn't move Joel looked like he was about to say something but just walked out grumbling.

"That was close." Ellie spoke, after a bit of silence. Sara laughed.

"Yeah, I guess we should get to bed though."

"Yeah, probably."

The two settled down and Sara shoved her skateboard somehow back into her backpack. They made makeshift pillows from their packs and it took them many unconfined giggles, before falling asleep.


	4. Making Friends

Ellie woke up to an annoyed Joel waking her. "Get up, we have to get moving." He droned as he was bent beside her.

"What? It's too early." Ellie groaned.

"You wouldn't have been so tired if you had been up so late." Joel retorted as he walked over to Sara, he was obviously gentler with her. "C'mon get up, we've got to go," he said softly as he shook her shoulder. Sara groaned as well.

"It's too early." She dragged on the 'early' as Ellie began to sit up.

"You two should not have been up that late." Joel sounded annoyed as he stood up.

"Oh come on, Sara has a skateboard. You expect me not to try it?" Ellie smirked at Joel, he did not return the favor. But before he could say anything Sara spoke up.

"Yeah, and you sucked at it." She laughed.

"Oh, shut up. You've had practice." Ellie pouted.

"Unless you can skateboard to the dam, we are going." Joel commanded.

"Can we?" Sara's face brightened, and she looked up at Joel. His face softened but pain flickered in his eyes. He turned away at Ellie to see the same hopeful expression in her eyes.

"No, it's too loud." Joel hid his face as he walked out.

"Awh, what?" Ellie said disappointedly.

"It's true though, that's why I couldn't do it too much in the QZ." Sara shrugged. The two got up and followed Joel, who was waiting in the doorway. Then, they were off.

The trip was long and boring, at least for Ellie it was. Sara tried to make conversation but was usually cut off by hunters or infected. There were many on their path today, actually. Ellie got to see Sara use a gun, she was pretty good. What was crazy was Sara didn't have a pistol like Ellie, she had a shotgun, and a small gun. Ellie recognized it as a shorty. When Joel saw the shotgun, it looked big for Sara's small size, he almost took it away from her. But Sara wouldn't let him. "It's dangerous" he protested.

"It is protection!" Sara shot back. She looked personally insulted.

"You'll kill yourself!" Joel looked pained and angry, so Ellie backed out of this one.

"What? No I won't! I've used it before."

"It's big, too big."

"You have one!"

"That's because I can handle it!"

"I can't handle it?" Sara looked lost for words, "What do you care if I get hurt anyways?" Sara spat. Ellie could feel the tension, but could almost hear Joel's internal battle. He looked as if he were about to say something but regretted it.

"Sara just keep the gun." Ellie said defeated, even though she was no part of the fight. When Sara looked at Joel unsatisfied Ellie continued "we have to move anyway."

"Sure, let's go." Sara grumbled, she was still pretty heated. Sara waked off gripping the shotgun.

"Joel let's go." Ellie dragged him after Sara until he walked on without her. It's was silent after that. Though, eventually the tension faded away and Sara talked to Ellie, when they weren't attacked by something.

"I really want to see what this is though." Sara confessed as she pulled out the flat object known as the iPod.

"It's an iPod." Ellie said flatly.

"I know but I want to see what it does." Sara said as she messed with the object.

"Well we have to find a cord thing which will be impossible in th-" Ellie started but she was soon cut off.

"I already have one," Sara exclaimed, "but we need a house with power, or a generator." She said a little less enthusiastic.

"We usually find a generator or something around here." Ellie said, trying o cheer her up, "especially in neighborhoods like this." She gestured to all around her.

"I hope so," Ellie could hear Sara's mutter as she walked off into a house, Ellie followed. While they searched the house Ellie could hear Joel shouting for them, she looked out and called back, just now noticing that the sky had grown dark and dull. Sara was still searching when Ellie went up to her.

"Hey, Joel's calling us, we got to go." Ellie reported.

"Okay" Sara sighed as she turned to face Ellie. She looked slightly disappointed.

"Hey, we'll find something for that iPod of yours," Ellie smiled weakly, lightly punching her. When Sara looked slightly better, but still downcast Ellie added "besides, it looks like rain, we'd better go." Sara followed Ellie out and over to Joel who had found an acceptable house to stay in for the night.

"We can stay in here while it rains," Joel reported, nodding his head to a dull house with a noticeably big hole on the second floor. The group walked in, and Sarah jogged ahead and went into the basement. "What's she hurrying to?" Joel asked Ellie.

"She's trying to find a generator for that black flat thing." Ellie said, obviously lacking interest. Joel gave a face of disapproval before walking out into the makeshift living room. There was a sagged couch and a broken coffee table, facing a t.v. which was surprisingly intact. Joel walked over and looked around for usable items, Ellie thought this was good a time then ever. "About what happened switch the fireflies-" she started but was cut off by an annoyed Joel.

"I already told you, there were others." He retorted, still looking through a shelf.

"I know but-" Ellie started again, but was yet again cut off by a familiar rough tone, Joel turned his head.

"I told you the truth Ellie I don't know why you just bring this up so much-" this time Ellie interrupted.

"Then why don't I believe you?" Ellie's voice was sharper then before, and she stared at him with a slight desperation. There was a pause, Ellie searched for anything that would show any guilt, but Joel remained stern. He turned to face her.

"I don't know, and I don't know what your problem is, but you ought to get over this firefly thing." Joel stared at her so intensely that she looked away. He walked into a different room, leaving his words to settle like the dust around them.

As if on cue Sara jumped up the stairs excitedly "Ellie! Ellie! I found a..." Sara's voice trailed off as she saw Ellie's teary expression. Sara walked over, concerned, "Ellie, are you okay?" She led Ellie over to the bed, and Ellie let her. "Ellie, Ellie, please say something." Sara's voice began to grow desperate.

"Sara, calm down I'm fine." Ellie reassured the worried girl. Sara's expression turned to relief.

"You scared me Ellie!" Sara breathed giving a weak smile, and lightly shoved Ellie. Ellie smiled, the tense moment fading away like the sun in the horizon.

"Sorry, what did you find?" Ellie said, before she knew it she was being dragged downstairs by a fast talking blonde haired girl.


	5. Rainy Days

Look!" Sara looked to happy as she showed Ellie that she had to smile back. "Come 'ere," Sara motioned Ellie forward and showed her the iPod "I wanted you to be here to see it." Ellie seemed surprised.

"What about Joel?" Sara looked up at her, slightly taken aback.

"What about him?" Sara obviously wasn't seeing what Ellie was.

"I just thought you would want him to be here, too." At this comment Sara's face fell.

"Why? He doesn't seem all that friendly." She murmured, making a face at the iPod. For some reason Ellie felt offended.

"What? He's a good guy." She somewhat demanded.

"Oh really," Sara crossed her arms.

"Yes," Ellie stated.

"He didn't like my necklace,"

"Well-"

"He didn't like my shotgun"

"It was a bit big..."

"He may be a good guy to you, but your all he cares about." Sara's face darkened as she spoke. Ellie was slightly surprised. "Your lucky," Sara sighed, Ellie felt a wave of pity wash over her, Sara did loose her father after all.

Ellie had sometimes realized how grateful she was when Joel was around but mostly she felt she just took it for granted. It if weren't for hi. She would be stuck in the QZ or probably dead. Ellie liked to think of Joel as the father she never had, she didn't think Joel thought of her as a daughter, though.

"Anyway," Sara's voice snapped Ellie back into reality, "maybe I should just go." Sara was sad, but grim.

"No!" Ellie half yelled, startling Sara. When recovered, Sara gave her a doubtful look. "If your just going to leave because Joel is not exactly nice, you should at least stay for me." Sara's face softened.

"I'm sorry Ellie," Sara looked down to the floor, "Sometimes I just feel unwanted..."

"Oh Sara, please," Ellie lightly waved her off, "you are probably the nicest friend I've ever had." Ellie didn't want to say best, due to a certain someone. This seemed to win Sara over and she smiled weakly.

"Thanks, Ellie."

It started to rain lightly, but hard enough to stop the crew from being able to leave. Ellie had started to settle down, wanting to get a good start due to her short last nights sleep. She fell asleep to the rain lightly hitting the house.

Joel was finishing searching the house by the basement, luckily there had been no predators around. He found a generator but it was turned on, and there was a small white cord connected to it. The iPod charger, he recognized. Sara was interested in it, where'd she go anyway? He decided to check the basement first, despite the small voice inside of him.

Finding Sara was extremely surprising. He was in shock for a whole hour, actually. I mean, it would be pretty freaky seeing your dead daughter weeping over a corpse of her 'father'. Something made him instantly care for this girl, it wasn't hard to find out what, as much as he hated to admit it, it was fatherly instinct. Joel at least let his fatherly instinct treat her like a daughter like when he saw her with that shotgun. It was a big gun, there were many ways she could get hurt.

Wait, what was that? Joel strained to listen, but he didn't hear screams or moans. He heard music. Music? He followed the sound until he was slowly creeping up the stairs. He saw Sara. She was sitting, staring out the gaping hole on the second floor.

"Sara?" He breathed. He knew she heard him because she spun around real fast, and looked startled. When she saw it was just him she relaxed. "What are you doing?" He walked over to her and saw her holding the iPod.

"I charged it," she said showing him the iPod, after pausing the music on it. "It plays music." Her voice filled with wonder as her mouth widened into a grin.

"I know," he gave a smaller smile than hers "I had one." Sara instantly became interested.

"Did you? Did yours have music too?" Sara's eyes were wide and eager.

"Yes, they all do, that's what they were made for." Joel told her softly.

"Oh," Sara's face leaked warmth as she smiled again. "Fascinating." She murmured. It was quiet for a while as Joel watched Sara swipe on the iPod, still mesmerized by it.

"What were you listening to?" Joel said, breaking the silence.

"Not sure, does it say?" Sara's smile left, but her curiosity didn't. Joel pointed towards the top of the screen where words were lit up.

"There," he explained "it says the title, artist and album."

"Oh,"

"You were listening to... 'The Way'?" Joel read, half asking her what song that was, for he never heard it before.

"Hmm, 'The Way'. Want to hear it?" Before Joel could answer she had already played it, but instead of holding into it, she set the iPod down between them. When the melody started playing Sara stared out into the rain, deep in thought. Joel did the same.

Though Joel preferred country music, this song wasn't bad. It had no words, which was different, but it made you focus on the harmony of each sound, not each word. It had a slow beginning but it picked up. The one thing it did best was trigger many emotions, and dark places.

"Joel?" A worried blonde girl shook Joel back to reality. "Are you okay?" She looked concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He shrugged her off, he didn't see her face, but he feared it was saddened. He didn't say anything else as another song began to pay, neither did Sara. He glanced down and saw what was playing "Exile Vilify". He looked over at Sara and saw that her face, of course, was hurt. He wanted to say something, but didn't. Joel just let the music play out.


	6. Bonds and Breaks

After Sara woke Ellie up the group set off, it was occasional infected they ran into. Sara sometimes started occasional conversation but looked around most. Sometimes Joel would join in, it seemed that things could actually be okay, until Sara finally said it.

"Where'd you get that watch?" Sara asked. Both Ellie and Joel tensed, Ellie looked to Sara and she knew she said something wrong. "What...?" Sara seemed more scared then curious, now. Joel's expression was lost, and slightly angry. Sara tried to call it off with a "never mind." But, over the course of walking, occasionally glanced at it, like it had spiritual meaning.

After a while Sara whispered to Ellie, making sure Joel didn't hear, "did I say something wrong?" Because after Sara had asked, it had been silent.

"Well... Sort of." Ellie whispered back.

"What, did something horrible happen to that watch?" Sara asked slightly frustrated that no one would tell her. Ellie stared at it for a while.

"Yes." Ellie replied bitterly. And with that Sara stopped asking questions.

The trio ran into an abandoned swing set, it looked so sad. Ellie hadn't noticed how dark the world around her looked when she could hear Sara's voice "what do you think that could have been?" as she pointed to something. Ellie didn't like looking at dead places, but rather guessed how it would have looked before the CBI broke out. Ellie never liked guessing.

"Oh cool! Look!" Sara exclaimed as she pointed out a rusted swing set. It looked like it was for a baby care or something.

"What are you a baby?" Ellie taunted.

"Yes," Sara playfully shot back as she ran over to the swings. "Come on." She called over to Ellie as she jogged over. Joel watched the two and looked as he was about to protest, but said nothing.

"Baby." Ellie mocked.

"Well, if I'm a baby, you have to push me then." Sara said as she sat down cautiously on the swing set testing it. Luckily, it remained strong. Ellie started to push her and Sara was swinging very high, actually. "Come on, let's be baby's together!" Sara laughed as she gestured Ellie to the swing and she sped by. Ellie got on the one next to her and the two were swinging back and forth, giggling. Ellie could see Joel smiling from where he leaned agents a cracked building.

"Hey! Come on, you should try these!" Ellie called. Joel laughed and waved her off.

"I don't think so." He said.

"He would break it anyway." Ellie half whispered to Sara. Joel gave her a suspicious look but said nothing about it.

"Come on, we've got to keep moving." He motioned them over. Sara was the first to slow down then Ellie, reluctantly. Having fun in this world was rare. Ellie stared after the darkened play set as they walked off.

Along the way the group ran into a big factory that they had to go through and, to Ellie's luck, it was partially flooded. Her face fell as she saw the murky water below, from the metal railing she stood on.

"What?" Sara asked as she walked up beside her.

"I can't swim..." Ellie muttered. She heard weird noises and saw Sara with her hand over her mouth, failing to contain laughter. "Shut up!" Ellie shoved Sara and turned away, flushed. Sara put her hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Sara looked unconvincingly sad. "It's not funny." Sara's face quivered, Ellie glared. Sara finally let out a laugh, and Joel turned around.

"What's so funny?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing." Ellie spat. She marched ahead. She could hear Sara calling for her, but she ignored it. Why couldn't she swim? She always slowed people down! Before she could begin to hate herself panicked shouts made her turn her head and she saw Sara, looking fearful. Before Ellie could say anything she felt herself being pulled down by her own weight.

Ellie felt impact, but it was soft. It didn't hurt. What scared her was she kept falling, but slowly. She opened her eyes but saw darkness, it was so cold, she was so cold. Pressure was all around her, she was under water. The first thought was: up. But which way was up? Ellie panicked, started to move her arms and legs, but it was getting her nowhere, well it was. Downward. She was loosing breath. Muffled splashes, the first was small, while the second was bigger. She felt something touch her arm, she wanted to move away but she was so tired...

Why did she have to make fun of her? Sara's first thought as she dragged Ellie out of the water. She had gotten a head start, so Joel was right behind. Ellie is going to die and her last moment would be of Sara mocking her. This was her fault. Sara felt her eyes begin to get watery. She dropped Ellie's limp arm and sat down. Sara's face was soon buried in her arms. Distant curses of Joel told her he was trying to help Ellie. Sara hated herself. She heard Joel sigh and walk over to Sara, he sat down beside her and put his hand on her back.

"Hey, it's fine. She's fine." He said softly to her. Sara looked up unconvinced and silent tears streaming from her eyes. Joel lowered his head next to hers and pointed to Ellie's chest. "Look, she's breathing. Probably just knocked out." Sara could see the slow rise and fall of her chest, and was slightly reassured.

"Are you sure?" Sara stuttered from shaky breath. Joel gave her a warm smile.

"I'm sure, " he said smoothly. Sara leaned against him, fearful she would fall down if she didn't. Joel put his arm around her comfortingly and leaned his head atop hers. Sara was grateful, but keeping her eyes trained on Ellie's chest, scared that if she looked away, it would stop. Sara's expression didn't change though, Joel must have seen because he spoke. "You wanted to know about my watch?" Sara heard a small bitterness in his voice, but was too curious to let it go.

"Yes..." She said cautiously, trying to hide her stutter. Joel was quiet for a moment.

"It was a gift." His voice was hoarse again. Sara looked up at him, he was looking at the broken watch. Sara couldn't tell if it was anger or pain in his eyes. She decided on both. "For my birthday." He finished. Sara felt bad.

"You don't have to tell me." Sara said, hiding her disappointment.

"You wanted to know, didn't you?" He said looking down at her his gaze softening.

"Well... Yes. But-" Sara admitted then was cut off by Joel.

"Then I should tell you. Besides, it should pass time." He said nodding towards Ellie's unconscious body.

"Okay..." Sara muttered, staring at Ellie.

"This was given to me by my daughter." Sara didn't know Joel had a daughter, she didn't know many things about him. She was about to ask her name, but saw Joel's expression and listened. "She and I were very close." Joel was trying to keep strong but Sara could see he was choking up. Sara didn't rush him when he spoke, and felt pity for this poor man, his daughter obviously didn't make it. "When the sickness broke out, my brother got us in his truck and we started drivin'" Joel explained his small story of a big bus running into the truck, and his daughter being injured. Sara had to let Joel lean on her, now. Him carrying his wounded daughter, and the soldier. Joel stopped, and he didn't have to explain more. Sara knew that was the end.

"I'm sorry." Sara spoke softly as Joel was near to tears. He was staring at his watch, Sara could feel him trebling against her. "She sounds very nice." She said, trying to comfort him.

"She was..." Joel whispered.

"What was her name?" Sara asked, half curious, half wanting to keep him talking. She fears if he stopped, he wouldn't start again. He was quiet for a long time, staring at Sara as if looking for something.

"It was-" Joel was cut off by a gasping that made both of them jump.

"Ellie!" Sara exclaimed, and crawled over to her friend. Her eyes were watering again. And before Ellie could react all Sara said was "I'm sorry" over and over.

Ellie hushed Sara before she became hysterical. Joel seemed distracted, and had to be told twice that they were moving on, through the factory. As they moved, both Joel and Sara helped Ellie through the water, Sara didn't make fun of Ellie anymore. In fact, she looked dangerously serious when she navigated Ellie through the water.

When they were finally out of the factory the group set out to find a place to stay once more, and found a mansion. Joel only accepted it when Ellie and Sara begged to see what it was like. He told them "bigger places hold bigger amounts of danger." Ellie waved this off and went off to explore. Ellie heard a shriek and a series of gunshots, shotgun gunshots. Ellie dashed through the maze of rooms to find her colliding with something. Ellie had her knife at the ready, but recognized Joel.

"Where's Sara?" He asked, he was panicked. No, horrified. He looked around.

"I don't know." Ellie said fear dawning on her with ever moment. Then the two took off, together to find a little girl in all the rooms. They finally came across Sara who was standing above a body that was twitching. She was staring at it, Joel ran over before Ellie.

"Are you okay? Are you bit?" Joel flooded her with questions, kneeling in front of her, looking at her arm. Sara looked amused.

"No, I'm fine." She laughed. Her smile faded when she looked down at the body once more.

"What?" Ellie asked, noticing Sara staring.

"Nothing." She said and looked up at Ellie. She still looked downcast but Ellie dismissed this.

"Well, you sure did scare the shit out of Joel." Ellie mocked as Joel circled around Sara, looking for any wounds. She heard him mutter something but didn't catch what.

"I told you, maybe we should stay in a smaller house." He said examining the body before Sara's feet.

"What? No." Sara half whined.

"Hey, you almost died." Joel pointed at her.

"But I didn't." Sara pointed out. Joel looked unconvinced,so she added, "we'll stay together?" Sara offered, her hope reflecting in Ellie's expression. Joel hesitated.

"Fine." He sighed. The two girls' faces lit up and Sara squeezed Joel, hugging him. He seemed surprised at first, the his face softened when he hugged he back, muttering "okay, okay..." Sara pulled away just as exited as she was when she hugged him. She then went over to Ellie.

"Come on! I want to show you something!" She said dragging Ellie out of the room.


	7. Glue

Sara dragged Ellie into a room with multiple paintings on it. They were beautiful, but Sara moved past them to something else. She stopped at a worn down desk, with something on it. She picked up the object, Ellie noticed it as a notebook. "I found this just before I was attacked, I went looking for you to show you." She said flipping through the drawn on pages. "Here." She handed Ellie the book for her to see.

"Oh woah." Ellie murmured as the looked at all the pages of the nicely drawn people. From the looks of it, this person liked to draw people most. Though these people weren't realistic, they were still very good. "These are pretty good." Ellie said still looking through the pages.

"I know right," she muttered as she noticed each and every picture in this room. Then Joel burst in, extremely annoyed.

"Hey! What happened to staying together?" He demanded more then asked.

"I wanted to show Ellie something." Sara shrugged as she looked over to him. Before Joel could say anything Sara beckoned him over, "here, look." He sighed and walked over, still pretty mad at the two ditching him.

"What?" He growled. Sara didn't say anything and motioned to the notebook in Ellie's hand. Ellie didn't want to give it up, she wasn't done with it. Luckily Joel didn't take it out of her hands, but just looked at it over her shoulder, which was somewhat annoying. Ellie tried to ignore it but couldn't, she sighed and just gave him the book. Joel took it and flipped through the pages, quicker then Ellie did. She took this time to look at the paintings. Before Ellie knew it Joel was shoving the book back into her hands. "I'm not an art person, come on let's go." He called over to Sara. She looked disappointed, but walked off anyway. As the group walked out of the room, Ellie took one last look before stepping out.

Even though Joel complained, they explored every room. Though Joel claimed to be "searching for supplies" but Ellie saw him pick up some things she knew weren't "supplies". When they had inspected every room in the mansion, they decided to stay in a room Ellie knew as a living room. It's furniture would have been beautiful if it wasn't covered in dust and blood.

"Ugh it smells." Sara complained, waving her hand around.

"When does it not?" Ellie said as she sat down with her backpack in front of her. Sara did the same.

"Oh! I don't think you got to see the songs on this thing!" Sara exclaimed, pulling out the iPod.

"That thing plays songs?" Ellie asked disbelievingly.

"Yeah, it's got tons too." Sara said showing Ellie the iPod. Ellie hadn't heard a song in a long time, too long, she thought. But just as Sara was scrolling through the songs, the iPod died. "No!" Sara whined, stabbing the iPod with her finger. She was obviously disappointed, Ellie was too, but she hid it.

"It's okay, you can show me next time." Ellie reassured.

"Okay," Sara sighed, "but I fall asleep or something before I can show you, find "Fix You" by Coldplay." She said.

"I will." Ellie said, making a small note in her head. She then remembered something, "Oh hey Joel!" Joel turned his head from where he sat, "how long until we get to Tommy's?" She asked.

"Should be the day after tomorrow," Joel responded, the grew grim "the hunters are getting more common." He muttered. Ellie probably wasn't supposed to hear that, but she did. It was true, they ran into less infected and more hunters. Nothing they couldn't handle.

"Good, getting tired of walking all the time." Ellie complained, making sure Joel heard. She didn't see his face, but she knew he rolled his eyes.

"Now, who's Tommy again?" Sara asked, somewhat confused.

"Joel's brother." Ellie replied flatly. She heard Sara 'oh' but didn't look up. Ellie was hopeful, just two more days. They might even become one messed up family together, protected at the dam. Ellie was glad Sara was with them, before she came Ellie and Joel were being pried apart by the Fireflies. Sara was like some superglue, holding them together. And they would be together, at the dam. Together...

Ellie was the first asleep, again. Joel knew she got tired easily, which she, of course, denied. At least he didn't have to deal with her smart-ass self when she was asleep. Joel was glad to be so close to the dam, they were almost there. Sara would probably come with them. Joel knew Ellie wouldn't let him leave her. And he wouldn't, not again.

"Does she always sleep early?" Joel was snapped out of darkening thought by an all too familiar voice. He looked up to see Sara looking at Ellie's sleeping body.

"Yeah, usually." He said, remembering a time when she couldn't sleep. A flurry of snow fogs his mind but he pushes it away. He saw Sara staring at as if trying to understand something. It was extremely uncomfortable. "Can I help you?" He said giving her a weird look.

"Sorry, you just look like someone I know..." She pondered, looking away from him. He could believe his ears, so did she.

"Who?" He cautiously asked. She muttered her answer, Joel couldn't hear. "What?" He asked. She hesitated, but then looked at him with a depressed seriousness.

"My father," she said quietly. Joel strained to hear her, but when he did, the word rang in his ears over and over.

"What?" He asked disbelievingly, he must be giving her a look that made her feel bad because she turned away.

"Nothing, just for a moment there..." She trailed off, looking at her wringing hands. When Joel met Sara, he didn't care what her father looked like or who he was. He honestly didn't even look at the body of her father, he was just aware that it was there. Did he really look like him? Joel's face softened when he saw the regret in Sara's eyes.

"No, it's okay." He reassured, Sara looked up at him, unconvinced. "I understand." Joel soothed. And Joel wasn't lying, he was telling the truth so much, it hurt. Sara seemed less apologetic, but still saddened. Joel was about to ask what was wrong but he already knew. He had been down the "painful memories of dead loved ones" road far too many times. What hurt him was that he couldn't do anything for her. He couldn't bring her father back, something told him he wouldn't even if he could.

"Hey," Joel's voice was soft as Sara's eyes began to get teary, "I know how you feel." He sympathized. Her watery eyes looked up at him, something in Joel hurt. "Don't cry, it'll be okay." He said, almost sounding desperate. Sara sniffed.

"Sorry." She murmured.

"Don't apologize," Joel's voice hardened, but was still gentle. He then got an idea. "C'mere," he beckoned her over. Sara hesitated, but silently crawled over next to him. "Have I ever told you about soccer?" He asked. Sara shook her head, her tears fading away from interest. Joel talked of goals and game rules as Sara leaned against him, watching his hand motions. Something about Sara's questions or wonder-filled eyes, made him feel as of a hole in him was filled. Joel felt whole again.

When Ellie woke up, Joel was already up. He seemed brighter, especially that he was smiling when Ellie was a smart-ass. Something happened when she was asleep, but she wasn't worried. This was obviously for the better, Joel was happy. Sara made him happy...

But if he was happy she was happy, right?

One more day, one more day till Tommy's. They just had to hold out a little longer. Though holding out became harder as they ran into multiple bandit groups. They kept pushing through, still. Somehow, their small group made it so far. With each area they passed Ellie became more buoyant, and she became less tense with every sound. Which wasn't actually good, but Ellie didn't really care.

After pushing through a bit of hunters, there was some clear area. Sara seemed to take this time for conversation. "Lots of people here, huh?"

"Yeah." Ellie scoffed. Joel gave a "mhm" in agreement.

"Is this normal?" Sara asked, knowing the two had been here before.

"Tommy did say he had bandit problems." Joel said grimly.

"I guess we took the bandit road, then." Ellie joked. Sara gave a laugh, Joel did not. In fact, he didn't move. On instinct, he grabbed Ellie's arm and forced her down. Sara was still standing when the sniper had his spot on her. Sara had gotten the memo seconds too late, as the sniper pulled the bullet. It pierced her leg.


	8. Déjà Vu

Sara did not shriek or yell out in pain, she dropped to the ground gripping her shot leg. After the sniper had shot, it unleashed a rain of bullets upon them. Sara crawled to the barrier that Ellie and Joel were behind. Ellie was scared, things were going to be okay, she told both herself and Sara. Sara looked at her through pained and teary eyes, nodding, telling Ellie she heard her.

Something had lit up inside of Joel, though. He became pale, and horrified. Even more scared then Ellie. Then he was infuriated, his face twisting in anger he started to shoot the nearest hunter. "Take her somewhere safe!" Joel shouted over the gunshots. Ellie didn't want to mess with him because she was more scared of him than for Sara.

"No!" It was Sara's small voice that yelled. She tried to hide the quavering in her voice, "What about you?" She asked, accepting Ellie as a support.

"This is not up for debate!" Joel demanded over the raging war between him and the bandits. "Ellie take her out of here!" Ellie did so, even though Sara protested. She took Sara to a small withered shack, the gunshots quieter here. When Sara was set down against the wall and onto the floor she spoke.

"You have to go help him." Sara demanded. If there was one thing Sara and Joel had in common, it was their stubbornness, Ellie thought.

"I can't, I have to help you." Ellie protested. To Ellie's surprise, Sara had a hostile tone.

"No! I'm fine, go help him. He'll die!" Sara's voice quavered at the end of her sentence. She clutched her leg once more.

"He's fine, he can handle himself." Ellie didn't exactly believe what she was saying, and from the looks of it neither did Sara.

"No ones coming here! Just go!" Sara commanded, her facial expression was angry, but her eyes shined with weakness. Ellie hesitated. "Go!" Sara shouted. Ellie reached for the door and turned her head.

"I'll be back, okay?" She said, unsure. Sara had both hands on her leg and just nodded, gritting her teeth. Ellie was unconfident leaving Sara alone, but she knew she wouldn't let her stay. Along with Sara, something was yelling at Ellie to go help Joel. By the time she closed the shack door, she knew there was no going back.

Ellie ran, shooting some bandits on the way to Joel's location. At first Joel didn't notice her but when he did he was enraged. "Where's Sara?!" He yelled, shooting down a hunter.

"She's safe, she told me to help you!" Ellie had to raise her voice above the raging gunfire.

"And you listened to her?!" He countered, shouting louder than he needed to.

"She wouldn't let me stay!" Ellie defended herself, her voice then softened "she said you would die." Ellie felt tears brimming at her eyes at the thought of Joel dying. She wiped it away with another hunter dead. Joel said nothing at that, but he still looked irate as he mowed down bandits, coming at them.

Ellie was somewhat comforted to be fighting by Joel again. She just didn't look at him because the malicious look on his face, wasn't as comforting. She had almost forgotten about Sara when memories of their long and difficult journey had fogged her vision. Joel was with her that whole time. Anyone else would just give up and leave her to die, but no. She had to have the old man who's daughter died and brother left him. And yet he still didn't leave her, Ellie is forever indebted to him for that. He just made room for one more little girl.

Ellie didn't realize the gunfire had died down until Joel had gripped her shoulder too tight and demanded she told him where Sara was. "Follow me" she said and ran off. Joel had run with her, beside her actually. He was on some adrenaline he she had never seen before. The paleness in his face and widened eyes told her exactly what that was: fear.

When they arrived in the shack Joel burst through the door, scaring Sara so much that she jumped. She leaned back in relief. Joel flooded her with questions, Ellie saw that Sara didn't want to talk so she stepped in. "I can help," she said. Joel stopped asking questions and they both looked to her with pleading eyes. Ellie could then see their resemblance. "I'm kind of an expert on this." She said looking to Joel.

Dead bodies everywhere, where was his brother? The young man looked around, panicked. He stepped cautiously over each of the people he used to call friends. Every step sent a pain through him as he looked down on those who were nice to him. That old guy was crazy! Started slaughtering brethren like it was no big deal. The young man probably would have been dead if his brother hadn't shoved him aside.

There he was. On the floor in a pool of his own blood. No! He didn't dare say anything to alarm the psycho and his little crazy girl, too. He didn't have time to mourn, a fire was lit inside of him. He stood up and grabbed his brothers sniper rifle, on its stand. He saw them leave, he knew where they went.

He walked slowly and carefully not making a sound as he gripped his brothers rifle with sweaty palms. If he killed one, the other would kill him. But then one would know how it feels. When he heard voices he stopped. There was the old man, the little girl, and another little girl? He creeped silently over to the shack that they took refuge in. The door was open, you could see the setting sun through the cracks in the house, he strained to listen.

"Will she be okay?"

"I think so."

"You think so? Why don't you know so!"

"Hey, I thought so on you, too!"

"Guys, stop fighting." The last voice rang out and it was quiet. Someone was obviously important to the two others, and wounded. Perfect. He crept slowly towards the door, no one noticed. When he could see the people inside they were all facing a small blonde girl. The crazy girl was doing something to her leg while the psycho man watched, nervously. The blonde girl would be seeing him if her eyes weren't squeezed shut in pain. The young man aimed at the little girls chest. She opened her eyes and he saw pure fear in her eyes, for a second he felt a twinge of doubt. Everyone turned to him, alarmed. Now or never. He pulled the trigger.

A loud gunshot went off before he knew what was happening. If was a blur, he could see the psycho man stand up and charge at him. The young man felt like a little blonde girl. All the could remember was pain, then darkness.

Ellie had to pull Joel away from the young man, the only way was to say that Sara needed him. That she did. He wrapped her up in his arms, tears threatening his eyes, Ellie herself already had silent tears falling down her face. Ellie had never seen him cry. Joel cradled Sara back and forth as she stared at him, not staying anything. Ellie could hear Joel whispering to her "No" over and over. She then spoke in a raspy voice.

"Tell me about your daughter."

Joel stopped rocking, he was obviously taken by surprise. He didn't remove his eyes from her pleading ones, though. He was chocking up as he spoke. "She was on a soccer team." He said, then paused. "She had blonde hair." He had to take a moment to regain himself every characteristic he said. "She had pale blue eyes, almost gray." Ellie could see the life draining from Sara's face and a new wave of tears come over her. "Her name was Sarah." He said, almost unable to finish as he hugged Sara tighter. Sara put enough strength in her body to look at him, but not with pain or sadness, her eyes were apologetic. Joel obviously didn't like this, as he cringed as her teary gaze.

Ellie offered to take Sara away for Joel, but he denied. The two walked out with Sara's body limply hanging in Joel's arms. They walked silently, Ellie was trying to stop crying. She didn't dare look up at Joel, that would just induce more tears, so she just stared at the ground. They walked until they found a house and set Sara on a bed, not having time to bury her or anything else. Joel tucked Sara's body under the covers and walked out of the room.

"Goodbye," Ellie said, choking up at her words. Ellie never liked goodbyes, they always came too soon. Ellie remembered what Sara told her and reached into her back pack and pulled out a flat glimmering surface along with a white cord. "You really liked this didn't you?" She asked knowing she wouldn't respond. "Goodnight." Ellie liked that better then goodbye. Sara was just sleeping.

Ellie walked out of the room to find Joel waiting for her, he was silent all the way to their refuge. They stayed in a cabin in the middle of the woods, Ellie thought it was relaxing. Not to mention convenient. When they went inside and settled down it was too quiet for Ellie's liking. "Do you want to talk about it?" She asked, hoping to help him.

"No," he said dully. He wasn't facing her.

"Do you want to talk about anything?" She asked slightly desperate for any bond.

"No." His voice hardened.

"Why not?" Ellie was put off by his lack of connection "it will make you feel better?" She said waiting for a response. When she didn't get one she added quieter, more to herself, "it'll make me feel better." Joel must have heard this, because he looked back at her, but did not turn. Ellie gave up, she lost the glue that held their bond together, and it was tearing them apart again.

Ellie was settling down to sleep when she realized something. The Fireflies weren't prying them apart, they never were. They pulled themselves away from each other. There were no Fireflies here to separate them. Just them and their broken hearts.

It stayed that way, until the duo woke up. Joel must have dreamt something good, because his face didn't have the sunken depression it did yesterday. Ellie asked him if he was okay, because this wasn't normal.

"Yeah, why?" He asked, looking through broken cabinets.

"Well, I mean Sara..." Ellie trailed off, fighting tears of her own. Joel stopped and turned to her with intense seriousness.

"What happened to Sara was bad, but we can't cry over everyone." He said, his voice hardening. Ellie couldn't believe him.

"What?" Ellie was sputtering, lost for words. Joel still stared at her, slightly confused. "She was practically your daughter!" She blurted out, which she regretted moments after.

"Sara wasn't my daughter." He said harshly. When he saw the hurt and confusion in Ellie's eyes, his voice softened. "Look this whole Sara thing is confusing. So let's forget about it." He then added in a weaker tone, "like Tess." Ellie knew what that meant, no talking about it, ever. Act as if nothing happened. Ellie wanted to yell at him, Sara was an exact replica of his daughter! And he could forget it just like that? Would it be the same for her?

"Okay." Ellie said, defeated. She didn't ask any of those questions, fearing the answers.


	9. Sing Me to Sleep

As Ellie followed Joel up a familiar path, he talked of hikes and his daughter. Most likely to make her feel better from her downcast look. "I think the two of you would have been good friends." He said. Ellie still was slightly mad at him for so easily forgetting Sara, but didn't dare tell him that. Something other than Sara was bugging her, ever since she died the problem was unavoidable in Ellie's mind. The troubling thoughts in Ellie's mind blocked out other things Joel said. They mildly argued a bit before Ellie blurted out.

"Swear to me," Joel was silent, "Swear to me that everything you said about the Fireflies is true." Ellie had desperation in her eyes, searching his for any regret or guilt. Joel was hesitant.

"I swear." He said, no quiver in his voice or darting eyes. Ellie gave up. They walked the rest of the way to the dam in silence.

When they reached the dam they were welcomed with open arms, Ellie plastered a smile on her face. It was probably the biggest lie she had ever told. They were shown to a house in the middle of a sea in ones. They settled down in separate rooms. Ellie pulled out some contents of her backpack, setting them around attempting to make the dull room look more like a home. She checked in Joel's room and found him sleeping, then slipped back into her room. She would sleep soon too, she had to do something first.

Ellie reached into her backpack and pulled out a white cord and a flat glimmering object. She was so grateful there was power, she plugged in the cord into an outlet, then into the iPod. It took a moment to power up, but Ellie was patient. Besides, Sara always was with it. She opened up the music app and looked through the songs for one special song a small blonde girl had requested. She found it, tapped it, and listened to it.

It was slow and Ellie liked it. Her favorite part was when the artist sang out "lights will guide you home". It gave her a feeling that there was a home somewhere for her, she just had to follow lights. Ellie contemplated on the part where he sang "I will try to fix you" as if Sara knew that both Joel and Ellie greatly needed her, for completely different reasons.

She fell asleep to this song, dreaming of Sara displaying a path lit up with lights. Ellie walked down that path, seeing Sara walking with her, asking in the familiar tone, "where do you think this goes?" Ellie answered truthfully.

"I don't know."


End file.
